Liquid Image Unveils Waterproof, Wearable Xtreme Sports Cam

CES 2011 is the showcase for the latest in wearable videography equipment.

LAS VEGASExtreme sports have been pretty popular for a while now, there are even the X Games. Along with that rise has come the now ubiquitous point of view camera angle. Companies like Contour (formerly VholdR) and Liquid Image pioneered wearable digital cameras and web cams. Today at CES 2011, one company is aiming to get even more extreme with a set of waterproof, wearable HD-video-capable snow goggles.

We first saw Liquid Image three years ago when the company introduced an innovative pair of water-proof digital camera goggles for divers. The camera mechanism stood out fairly prominently on the bight-yellow eyewear. Thanks to shrinking technology, it's hard to tell that Liquid Image's newest goggles even include a digital camcorder. The Xtreme Sports Cam puts a tiny camera right in the middle and just above the goggle lenses. Company execs said they tried to put the camera as close to the eyes as possible to give the video essentially the same view the wearers get as they careen down a snow bank at 30 miles per hour. The microphone, which sits next to the lens, has a layer of foam on top of it to try and cut down on wind hitting the mic directly and drowning out the extreme sports sounds.

A tiny LCD readout on the inside of the goggles shows when the camera is shooting. The high-end model can shoot an estimated 300 minutes of 1080p H.264 video and store it all on a tiny MicroSD card housed inside the goggle frames. Liquid Image promises the goggles are 100% waterproof.

Contour's latest sports cams also shoot in 1080p, but they're worn on helmets and, thanks to a detachable base, can be moved from headgear-to-head gear, depending on the sport or activity.

Extreme sports POV video capture doesn't come cheap. The high end Liquid Image Xtreme Sports Cam will sell for $399 sometime this fall. Liquid Image execs also told us that they'll be sponsoring this year's X-Games.

A 25-year industry veteran and award-winning journalist, Lance Ulanoff is the former Editor in Chief of PCMag.com.
Lance Ulanoff has covered technology since PCs were the size of suitcases, ?on line? meant ?waiting? and CPU speeds were measured in single-digit megahertz. He?s traveled the globe to report on a vast array of consumer and business technology.
While a digital veteran, Lance spent his early years writing for newspapers and magazines. He?s been online since 1996 and ran Web sites for three national publications: HomePC, Windows Magazine...
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